In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down part of
the Voting Rights Act, the U.S. bishops have called for legislative
action to ensure the right of all eligible citizens to vote.
“The recent Supreme Court decision necessitates that Congress act
swiftly to assure that the right to vote be protected and afforded to
all eligible citizens,” Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif.,
and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, said July 3.
The two bishops head the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human
Development and the Committee on Cultural Diversity, respectively, for
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
They urged the introduction of new legislation that “assures modern and
effective protections for all voters so that they may exercise their
right and moral obligation to participate in public life.”
On June 25, the Supreme Court struck down a part of the 1965 federal
voting law that barred nine states and many counties and municipalities
from changing their election laws without federal approval.
The court
majority ruled that the federal law, which mainly affects Southern
states, does not reflect “current conditions” and cultural changes.
Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion noted the high rate of African-American
voter registration and turnout and the rise of African-American
political leaders in towns like Selma, Ala. He said the law selected
states and localities that require federal preapproval on the basis of
“40-year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disagreed, saying in her dissent that the
decision was a disservice to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and ignored
new barriers to voting such as racial gerrymandering and requirements
for at-large voting in areas with a black minority, the New York Times
reports.
She said the legislation being struck down had helped to fulfill “the
purpose and promise of the Fifteenth Amendment,” passed after the Civil
War to let Congress legislate against racial discrimination in voting.
Bishop Blaire and Bishop Flores noted the U.S. bishops’ leadership role
in securing the right to vote, including the bishops’ past support for
the Voting Rights Act.